I picked up the back section of a 28/29 cabriolet today. The ultimate goal is a roadster. So here are my rookie questions for you. Will the Cabriolet back half work for a roadster with out looking dumb? What cowl section do I need to find? What kind of doors do I need?
the main differences that i know of between the cabriolet and the sport coupe are that the cabriolet has window frames that fold down with the top unlike the sport coupes fixed frames. as far as the back half being used as a roadster, it would really depend on your definition of a roadster. the model a roadsters have a longer panel above the decklid than the coupes and cabriolet. so using the back section wouldnt make it a true roadster, it would be what most of us refer to as a coupster, and done right it can look good. and if you are tall you will have alot more legroom with the coupester. another big factor would be your choice of cowl and doors, if you can find a set of roadster doors and a cowl that would obviously be your best bet, however expect to pay $$ especially for a 28/29. you can get away with using a closed car cowl and doors, then cutting them down, this is the route that most guys take and it looks fine as long as you pay special attention to the door caps. i hope this was the information you were looking for, i am by no means an expert. you also might want to do a search for "coupester". http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/search.php?searchid=2553428 quite a few hambers have built them, ***us just finished a really nice one. Erik
I've dealt mostly with coupes, sport coupes, and special coupes, also called leatherbacks. They were all manufactured by the same company and had the same lower rear quarter panels, sub-rails, doors and cowls. The cabriolet and roadster were both manufactured by another company, and I thought, but I'm not positive, that they had the same lower rear quarters, but different cowls and doors. The cabriolet had a fixed windshield and doors with roll up windows. The roadster had a fold-down windshield and no side windows, just side-curtains. Just to confuse things more the sport coupe, mentioned in the first group looked like it was a convertible, but wasn't. I don't know if this just confuses you more, but I would think that your cabriolet would easily become a roadster. If you were to get roadster doors and a roadster cowl, you would be pretty close. red
Thank you Reds 29. I did a search on Carnut.com to try to figure out the differences.....and as you said it's pretty confusing. So, your pretty sure that a roadster cowl and doors will make my Cabriolet in to a long body roadster? Can I use 30/31 doors and cowl with my 28/29 back half, or do I need 28/29 stuff all the way around?
I can't guarantee it. My work has mostly been done with the coupes I've had. You would definitely have to stick with the 28-29's. The bodies all changed for 30-31. The bead/reveal under the windows and down the side changed, and the cowls are completely different. That would make it difficult to fit 30 doors to a 29 cowl. Check out the Model A Ford Clubs website. They have archives and lots of pictures, etc. Also check out the Fordbarn.com there's a forum for Model A's. Some guys there have national award winning restored A's that really know there stuff. Does your back half have a wooden sub-frame? Red
The cabriolet is an odd ball a**** Model A's. It was introduced in mid 29 and already had the smooth cowl styling of the 30-31 and the same body was carried over to the end of A production in 31. As far as what you can make fit, I don't really know, but the cabriolet roof parts could be pretty valuable to a restorer if you have them, I'd think you'd be better off trading those to someone who really needs them. The main thing is though, the 28-29 and 30-31 cowl differences do not apply to the cabriolet.
My '29 is a coupster that's been shortened. We're trying to figure out where to add four inches back to the car to make it a little more comfortable. I'm thinking I can move the cowl and doors forward and cut the body behind the door jambs to add metal. Not sure. I'm glad this thread came up because this is exactly what I'm working on. Good timing fellas.
Here's a really handy link given to me by a fellow HAMB'er. http://home.cogeco.ca/~deuceguy/Model_A_Scans_Main.htm My 28-29/30-31 Sportcoupe was just delivered on Sunday night (thanks again Pantown transport!!!)... so I'm in a similar boat. I've found a lot of good ideas, pictures and info. on this m/b by using the search function and keywording sportcoupe. ***us's build is pretty well do***ented and his car turned out pretty cool... and affordable. I would've loved to bought a legit roadster or a duece... but then again I can probably build this car to completion for less than a duece body and still pay for my mortgage and save money for college for my daughter. You also won't need your trunk lid so PM me for my address so you can ship it to me.
i think the cabriolet has the look of a 30/31 type cowl but its actually a 1 piece cowl section with a 28/29 type gas tank inside of it if you have the entire body, converting it to roadster proportions wouldnt be too bad of a task your body lines wont be right...but it'll look ok first of all cut the windsheild posts off...leaving them at the stock angle just doesnt cut it for roadster proportions you'll have to reshape the back edge of the cowl area to get a finished roll there you might be best with a duvall type windsheild to keep from alot of extra fabrication you'll need to thin your doors and cap them off to eliminate the window channel and not have a bulky look last you'll need to extend the deck panel above the trunk and move the body line this is the area where the most fabrication comes in...but if your creative with the slices you can make it work without having to make alot of fancy pieces I'dthink you could roadsterize this car in a few days and have a pretty nice vehicle in any case...good luck Zach
If you want a roadster, I bet you could trade those quarters for real roadster quarters. Most "conversions" don't look right. See how much work Zach says it takes to make it look respectable? And then it still isn't a "real" roadster, if that matters to you. Try Fordbarn.com for a good Model A cl***ifieds page.
Another thing...roadster and coupes are basically steel bodies; cabrio has a lot of wood structure in floor, doors, etc.
Here is the Cabriolet club's web page. A lot of great information here. http://www.cabriolet.modelahouse.com/ Go to this page for detailed pictures of a 1930 cabriolet body. (2nd choice in the chart) and other cabriolets http://www.cabriolet.modelahouse.com/cgi-bin/pictures?cabriolets.txt No such thing as a 28 cabriolet. 1929 introduced the cabriolet, Briggs coach company built the body. Sub rails and all bracing were made of wood, so it's not like a coupe body or a roadster body in that regard. Door jamb on a cabriolet body is one piece with the rear quarter panels. On a coupe or roadster, the door jambs are a seperate piece rivited in, with a piece of wood inside the channel. 1929 tops were much bigger when folded down than 30 - 31 cabriolets. In late 31, they came out with a slant window cabriolet at the same time they did the slant window vicky and slant window 4 door. The slant window cabriolet had metal in the doors rather than wood. Some say that the cabriolet doors are really just Briggs 4 door front doors that are cut off at the Briggs plant and factory leaded over. That's what they appear to be. 1929 cabriolet cowl is the only cowl that is "smooth" like the others say, meaning that from the hood to the door, there is no indent, however, it gets narrow like a 28 29 and uses a 28-29 gas tank (again already said) So basically, you're asking what you can do? Do what you want. ALL cabriolet Model A's have a bead running along the bottom of the body, so if you are using a 28-29 cowl from another Model A, the front and back won't match. Roadster doors won't mate up with the cabriolet lines. If your back half doesn't have that bead at the bottom, then it was probably a sport coupe. Here is a 1929 cabriolet body. (gas tank swoops up to windshield) Here is a 1930 - early 1931 cabriolet body (gas tank more flat to windshield) Here is a late 31 cabriolet (window pillers slant. Back half different internally and structurally)
Here's an interesting oddity: This neat site contains the body drawings Ford used in the Salesman's manual: http://home.cogeco.ca/%7Edeuceguy/Model_A_Scans_Main.htm The early cabriolet is clearly shown with the common '28-9 style cowl! I ***ume this is some pre-production error that made it into print. The 4-door models show the style of cowl actually used. I remember reading once that Ford released pictures early on of fourdoors with the common style cowl as well...the only actual fourdoor with the tudor type cowl was the very rare Taxi.
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